Why do we feel thirsty after consuming salt?

There is a certain amount of salt in all our food, and one of the properties of salt is to draw water from the tissues toward the kidneys where the waste liquids are filtered. Normally the amount of water drawn is not great enough to be noticeable, but if the food we eat is very salty, the amount of water drawn out of the tissues by the salt will be abnormal and the tissues will then be lacking in water.

Whenever a certain part of the body is in distress, it conveys its needs to us by sending signals to the brain, as when the gnawing sensation in our stomach warns us that we are hungry. In a similar way the tissues, whenever they lack water, can signal their need to the tongue and the throat which themselves begin to feel parched and dry. The tongue and throat are tissues through which we become aware of the lack of water most keenly. From this we not only know that our mouth is dry but that our whole body is in need of water.